Coin collector



COIN COLLECTOR Filed Dec. 29, 1934 C`.H. WHEELER By A TTOVRNEV Patented Mar. 3, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT 0F FICE Telephone Laboratories,Y

Incorporated,

NewYork, N. Y., a; corporationof N ew- York Applicationl December 29, 19.3.4; Serial No: 7595651 4 Claims'l This inventiony relates to coin controlled apparatus i-nl Whicha depositedcoin is employed to actuate switching i mechanism.

The Y presentA invention'. is; particularly adapted for that typeof coinrcollector apparatus employed in telephone pay'stations wherein the calling party deposits acointo. actuate switching mechanism for signaling; the operator in a manual systemori to;y render the su-bscribers.y equipment operative; in; ,a dial system.

An object of; the. present invention is to increase. the i .s'ensitivenessv of; such switching mechanism to: actuation by depositedV coins, particularly by vcoinswhich are' under-weight but otherwise. standard,

In the prefen'ed embodiment of the invention.

the swi-tchin, ,l mechanism is. controlled by a springv pressed lever. having. an arm resting on. a shoulder of a pivoted cointrigger which hasl an. extensionprojectingrinto a coin chute. The deposit of a coin causes the trigger to be actuated to remove the trip or shoulder supporting the spring pressed lever allowing the lever to close the desired switching contacts. Such an arrangement requires that the force of the falling coin be suiiicient to overcome the frictional contact between said shoulder and the lever arm. This invention proposes to reduce the force required to obtain the desired release of the spring pressed lever arm by having the lever arm resiliently supported by the shoulder on the coin trigger in such a manner as to permit a limited movement of the coin trigger before the normal contact of the lever arm on the coin trigger shoulder is shifted. This may be preferably accomplished by terminating the lever arm in a spring member having a bowed portion resting on the shoulder or trip of the coin trigger, for example, by having the bottom portion of a U-shaped spring resting on the shoulder. The resiliency of the spring member will enable the coin trigger to be moved to a limited extent before the contacting area between the trigger and spring is shifted to produce a certain amount of frictional resistance to the coin trigger movement. Such an arrangement reduces the possibility that an under-weight coin such as a thin dime in striking the coin trigger would be unable to move the trigger suciently to release the lever arm controlling the switching mechanism.

This invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 discloses one form of the coin trigger lever' of. this invention embodiedy in a telephonecoin collector; oizwhiclnonlyfthe related parts are shown;

' Fig; 2 isl an enlarged .end view ofv theA coin trigger lever: of, Fig. l andA Fig. Brisan enlargedrsiderv-iew offthevcoin trigger lever.

For convenience this: invention; has* been. dis cl-osedf as embcdiedgin: coin collecting apparatus of the typek disclosedxin theOili; Forsberg U. S.` Patent 1,043,21'9,. patentedr. November.;r 5, 1912. Only tlreparts oi'they coin collectorrelated to this inventionare shown in. Fig;` 1 herein and reference may be maden-to, thev said Forsberg patent for amore detailed;l disclosure anddescription of the:complete?telephone.v coin collector.

As disclosedf in: the llorsberg patent a4 coin` trigger 5.- pivote'd. at the point: 6r hast an arrrr 'I extending` into acoinclrutew adapted; to be ac tuated'by. any deposited. coin. Cooperating'.- withV trigger; 5:' is an angularswitclr operatinglever 91 pivotedaiongiaxisi t Ibwhiclrhasa downwardly 'entending Int earryingfazninsul'ated; switclr ac.- tuating button I2 maintained under tension by a spring I3, said spring tending to cause said button to close contact springs I4, I5 but being normally ineffective to do so since another arm I6 of the same lever is latched by the shoulder I1 When a deposited coin strikes I6 and permits spring I3 to close contacts I4, I5. The closure of these contacts as described in the Forsberg patent may be utilized to signal the central office operator and to place the coin magnet I 8 under the control of said operator whereby the deposited coin may be later refunded or collected.

When the operator presses her collect or refund key to energize magnet I 8 the actuation of the armature of the magnet causes a pin I9 attached thereto to give a clockwise movement to lever I I thereby raising arm I6 above shoulder I1 to permit the trigger 5 to resume its normal position under the action of the overbalancing Weight of its extension 20. The subsequent deenergization of magnet I8 allows arm I6 to drop on shoulder I1 restoring the apparatus to its original condition as it existed prior to the assumed coin deposit.

It will be evident from the above description that it is quite important that a deposited coin should actuate trigger 5 to a sucient extent that arm I6 will slide off shoulder I'I and permit the other arm I I to close contacts I4, I5 to signal the 55 operator and to render the telephone subscribers equipment operative. It will be apparent that trigger 5 has a certain frictional resistance against movement particularly because arm I6 is bearing down on shoulder I1 under pressure exerted by spring I3.

In accordance with this invention it is proposed to reduce the force required to obtain the desired release of the spring pressed arm I6 by having arm I6 resiliently supported by shoulder I1 of the coin trigger in such a manner as to permit a limited movement of the coin trigger 5 before the normal contact of the lever arm I6 on shoulder I1 is shfted. This may be accomplished by terminating lever arm I6 in a spring member 2I having a bowed portion 22 resting in shoulder I1. This may take the form of Va U-shaped spring having one arm suitably fastened at the point 23 to lever I6, with the bottom portion 22 of the spring resting on the shoulder I1 and the other arm free. The end view of such a spring shown in Fig. 2 is supplemented by the side view of Fig. 3. The resiliency or flexibility of this spring member 2I will enable the coin trigger 5 to be moved to a limited and definite extent and hence acquire a certain momentum before the contacting area between shoulder I1 and spring 2| is shifted to produce a certain amount of frictional resistance to the coin trigger movement. That is, the initial movement yof the coin trigger under contact with the deposited coin will merely bend the spring member 2I and will not actually start shifting the lower end 22 of the spring 2l along the upper face of shoulder I1 until the coin trigger has acquired a certain momentum which momentum will aid in overcoming the frictional resistance between the contacting portions of the spring 2I and shoulder I1. The use of such a spring 2| has been found to reduce considerably the possibility that an underweight coin such as a thin dime in striking the trigger 5 will be unable to move the trigger sufficiently to release the lever 9 which controls the switch mechanism.

While one particular embodiment has been chosen for illustrative purposes it is to be understood that equivalent arrangements coming within the terms of the appended claims are also contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a coin actuated device comprising a pivoted member having a nger actuated by the weight of a coin, a movably mounted switch actuating member and flexible means connected to said switch member and contacting with said pivoted member, whereby said switch member is normally supported by said pivoted member, said means being flexible in the direction of movement of said pivoted member.

2. A coin actuated device comprising a pivoted member having a nger actuated by the weight of a coin, a movably mounted switch actuating member and ilexible means attached to said switch member and contacting with said pivoted member for permitting relative movement between said members before said liexible means shifts its contactingarea on said pivoted member.

3. A coin actuated device comprising a pivoted member having a finger actuated by the weight of a coin, a movably mounted switch actuating member, a trip on said first member and means attached to said second member and normally contacting with said trip for permitting said first member to said means shifts its point of contact on said trip.

4. A coin actuated device comprising a pivoted member having a finger actuated by the weight of a coin, a movably mounted switch actuating member, a shoulder on said rst member and a flexible spring mounted on said second member and normally resting on said shoulder, said spring being flexible in the direction of movement of said pivoted member.

CLYDE H. WHEELER.

be moved to a limited extent before 

